What I Learnt This Week

Norwich 4 Newcastle 2

Nearly one in four GCSE entries could be awarded at least an A grade in what is expected to be another record year of results, it was predicted today.

"Traditional" A-level subjects should be valued more highly in the race for university places, a Government minister said, as thousands of students prepared to receive exam results today.

The number of A* grades at A-level is set to rise when the results for more than 250,000 students are announced next Thursday.

More than 200,000 university applicants will fail to get places this year, the head of the admissions service has warned, in a repeat of last summer's chaotic scramble following the publication of A-level results.

More than 12,000 students with at least one A* grade pass at A-level will be turned away from Oxford and Cambridge this year.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew's hopes of securing his key players before embarking on a recruitment drive have suffered a further blow.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has reluctantly left midfielder Cheick Tiote to sulk his way through the final weeks of the season after deciding not to risk another ban.

The GCSE exam should be abolished and replaced with a series of "graduation" tests at 14, Estelle Morris, a former education secretary, has said.

A major shake-up of GCSEs to be unveiled this week means the end of coursework and a return to the traditional end-of-year exam. Education Secretary Michael Gove is planning to ditch the modular exam system, under which coursework done during the two-year study period counts towards the overall grade. Instead, he wants to see a return to the traditional O-level approach, with a pupil's results being determined purely by their final exam.

The number of pupils gaining straight As in their A-levels has fallen for the first time on record, it emerged yesterday, following the introduction of more challenging questions this year.